(S13E10) A few weeks ago one of our avid readers (may have been my brother, actually) said I should mention the radical change that Kerry Weaver has gone through this season. She's a kinder, more gentle Kerry that is on the screen now; a radical change from the authoritative, power-hungry doctor she was since she stepped into County General during the second season. It could be that her recent hip replacement, along with her son, have made her realize that there is more to life then being someone who rules over others. And the fear of homosexuality back in the sixth season? Well, that is completely and totally gone, as seen this week when Kerry snogged the producer of her television segments.

With that out of the way, let's get to the bulk of this week's review.

Luka never learns, does he? Let's remember way back to season six, during Luka and Abby's first attempt at dating. There was that incident where the good doctor killed a man who tried to attack them. It was determined that the killing was in self-defense, and we thought that taught him a lesson. Well, apparently not, because without any real concrete evidence Luka is now threatening to kill Curtis Ames if he doesn't stay away from his family. Abby isn't very happy about this; she thought the father of her child had gotten past this protection stage. I hope that this whole thing won't get out of hand.

Speaking about fathers, it turns out that Eddie, the man Abby talked to last episode, is her long-lost father. He's back this week as a patient under Abby's care. Dr. Lockhart has a rapport with him, but Luka's bedside manner with the man leaves something to be desired. I believe this is due to the fact that he believes Eddie is working with Curtis to spy on his family. That boy needs to stop being so paranoid!

On the whole, this week's episode reminded me very much of the early days of the series; one major patient storyline with a bunch of secondary stories. What I really enjoyed was the appearance of Archie (Morris) and his gang. I think that this is the first group of medical students and interns that I've actually enjoyed watching. Dr. Morris really impressed me when he verbally took down Dr. Crenshaw, the chief surgical resident. It was something Neela hasn't done since she joined the surgical team. Let's have more Archie, please!

One other item of note. We are introduced to Kip Pardue as a new registered nurse and potential love interest for Samantha. At first the ER staff at County think he won't last a day, but it turns out he has learned a thing or two from his previous stint as a nurse. As Morris says, he's quite 'macho'.

That's it for this week. Christmas comes early to ER next week. So, we'll see you then.